20 Most Recent OKI MICROLINE 520 Matrix Printer Questions & Answers

This is a SNIP of a rather LONG FIX: Found here: http://forums.windrivers.com/showthread.php?7080-RESOLVED-Okidata-Microline-184-Turbo "Just purchased this thing and am running it a machine to print checks with (Win95, p1-200, 48 Mb ram). The Oki dot matrix printers don't give you drivers, they tell you to use the drivers from Win95 disk. Sure... (just lazy if you ask me :-) OK using the Oki Microline 184 IBM Turbo driver the thing works fine, EXCEPT that it *always* prints in NLQ mode no matter what the settings in the control panel, it just switches to NLQ before each print job. So... we switch to a "generic text" driver and it works fine that way EXCEPT that it no longer recognises the custom paper length (8.5" wide X 7" long) Now here's the wierd part... IF I switch back to the win95 driver, re-accept the custom paper size, print a test page (in NLQ of course), switch back to the generic driver, re-accept the the custom paper size, switch the printer to normal (non NLQ), and print it works fine with the custom paper size and non-NLQ mode until the next time it needs to print. The printer remains ON 24/7, so its not reseting itself. It just seems that with the Win95 driver there is no way to set it to print in anything but NLQ AND the generic driver refuses to keep the custom paper sizes in memory. Anyone seen this before? Never came accross this myself. I may just end up sending this thing back and getting an Epson or someting else." AND THERE IS THIS: "This is like going back to the dark ages....most of those old impact printers had dip switches to set things like default print quality. Additionally, Oki's usually came in two 'flavors'--plain Oki and IBM Oki. It's important that you install the correct driver between the two options..." Anthony

u need a cable usb to parallel.

IF you did not turn the printer off before removing the head you probaly just blew the fuse

When the alarm light is blinking what other lights are on. This is the fatal error code with the printer.

Remove the ribbon. if still not moving smoothly unit needs service. 3 year warranty on this unit brand new.
If you cannot move the carriage back and fourth accross,

there is a seriuois issue. unit requires service.

You can get any driver you want by installing : Driver Genius - the latest version .. and let it search through the internet :)btw , here's a ( worked & safe ) link for D.G : http://depositfiles.com/files/k7bzoizzb Hope that link helps too :http://www.driversimple.net/Camera-MP3-Player/Okidata-Oki-Ml-520-EliteGood luck :)

There may be two things that cause this: a bad/dry ribbon, or a damaged printhead.
Take a sheet of paper and print something out and try to see if the letters are punctuated onto the paper in full, even if there isn't ink on them. An easy way to do this test is to take a pencil and slowly sketch over the line of text, as they do on the movies to reveal any handwriting on a piece of paper... the pencil sketching should reveal if the letters are formed, and if they are, that means that the ribbon is dried out and you'll need to replace it with a new one.
If the letters aren't formed then the print head is not working well, which means that either it's missaligned, i.e it's a bit higher than it should be, or, it's broken and you'll need a replacement head. So, see if there are any nobs that you can use to fine-align the printhead onto the roller. I'm not sure there are such nobs, but it's worth to try.
The rule of thumb is that if you've used your printer heavily for about 5 years chances are you'll need to replace the printhead.
There are ways to try and repair the printhead, and this usually can be done with a electronics component lubricant, that comes in a pressurized can and you can probably get this at any toolstore or supermarket. Once you find the lubricant, spray a bit onto the side of the printhead that faces the roller. Of course, you'll need to first remove the ribbon so that it exposes the full printhead side that's facing the roller.

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I have an alarm light onthe display, printer does Problem with the OKI MICROLINE 520 Matrix Printer

This is a checksum error. I would suggest replacing the main control board

Here is a web page with many drivers to choose fromm

http://www.google.com/search?q=OKI+MICROLINE+520+Matrix+Printer+NEED+A+PRINTER+DRIVER+FOR+THE+ML+391+TURBO+&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADFA_en

What driver are you using for this printer? Try loading a Epson LQ1050 driver and try again.
Dezzi

turn printer off and delete print job from printer folder on computer. a small printer ikon should be visible on bottom right corner of windows screen. double click on this and delete print jobs in the box.